Chapter 358: The Central-Position Firing Method
At the Himmelson Airfield in German-controlled territory, Major Immelmann had recently been promoted to Colonel and was now fully in charge of the airfield's operations, a promotion he earned simply by surviving the French bombing raids.
The previous bombing had taken a heavy toll on the airfield; out of 365 pilots, only 128 survived, with many too injured to ever fly again.
Survival alone had become a mark of excellence, making these men the elite among the remaining elite, and their promotions were inevitable.
However, Colonel Immelmann felt more like an artillery officer than an air squadron commander these days. He had been preoccupied with figuring out how to defend against French bombing raids.
"If we can't fend off enemy bombers, we'll never be able to establish or grow our air squadron," Colonel Immelmann told his subordinates. "Our air power will remain inferior to that of the French, and that's unacceptable."
"But, Colonel," one subordinate voiced a concern, "why can't we assemble the squadron further away, in a safer location, and then transfer it here once it's ready?"
Immelmann shot back, "And what difference would that make? Once you're assembled, do you expect to intercept the enemy bombers?"
The room fell silent.
The French bombers were faster than German fighters. Even if they managed to get airborne in time, intercepting the bombers was virtually impossible.
"Let me make one thing clear." Immelmann scanned the room, tapping a finger firmly on the map. "At the moment, there's only one way to take down enemy bombers: using machine guns and artillery to shoot them out of the sky. Only then will our airfield have a chance to survive, and only then can our planes continue to provide essential air cover to the front lines."
Immelmann had heard rumors that a new, faster German aircraft had been developed that could outpace enemy bombers. He hoped the rumors were true.
His subordinates responded in unison:
"Yes, Colonel."
"Understood, Colonel."
...
But talking about solutions was often easier than implementing them.
An airplane moves through a three-dimensional space, unlike the typical two-dimensional ground targets of artillery. When targeting ground units, even missed shots explode upon impact with the ground, releasing a shockwave and shrapnel that can still cause damage to nearby enemies.
Aircraft, however, operate in three dimensions. If a shell misses its target, it simply continues flying without exploding, rendering it ineffective.
(Note: Anti-aircraft shells with timed fuses had not yet been invented at this stage. Even with timed fuses, hitting aerial targets remained exceedingly difficult. High-speed aircraft were nearly invincible at this point.)
After days of brainstorming, Colonel Immelmann finally devised a method he called the "Central-Position Firing Method."
He grouped every ten artillery pieces into a unit and arranged these units in dense formations. Using the central gun as the target-setter, all artillery pieces in the formation would fire simultaneously at a single point.
(Note: The "Central-Position Firing Method" was a real tactic employed during WWI when anti-aircraft technology was in its infancy. With limited accuracy, this method compensated by using a concentrated barrage, where ten artillery pieces fired simultaneously at a target, hoping for a lucky hit.)
Colonel Immelmann positioned over a hundred artillery pieces around the airfield, setting up a formation that resembled a massive net, waiting for the French bombers to arrive.
...
That day, as Colonel Immelmann and his officers were discussing the potential addition of machine gun reinforcements at higher positions, the phone operator suddenly called out, "Colonel! Enemy bombers sighted! Over fifty of them, estimated to arrive in ten minutes!"
Immelmann's face turned pale. Over fifty bombers meant more than a thousand bombs about to rain down. Were they trying to level the airfield?
Suddenly, Immelmann realized that his defenses might be insufficient. A hundred or so artillery pieces might be nothing more than a drop in the bucket.
"Scramble the planes!" he ordered. "Everyone, prepare for combat!"
"Yes, sir!" The officer relayed the orders over the phone.
The piercing sound of the air raid sirens filled the airfield, and the entire base was thrown into action. Groups of pilots sprinted towards their planes, guided by ground crews, and soon the roar of engines filled the air as they took off.
Meanwhile, the logistics teams rushed to move exposed fuel and ammunition into underground bunkers, while those that couldn't be moved in time were hastily pushed into open fields to avoid damage to nearby structures.
The artillery crews received their orders as well, scrambling to their positions and orienting their guns toward the incoming enemy aircraft.
...
Soon, a faint rumbling could be heard from above as the French bomber fleet appeared in Colonel Immelmann's binoculars—a dark, ominous swarm blocking half the sky like a cloud of locusts.
"We need bombers like that," Immelmann muttered with a mixture of bitterness and envy. "Then we could give the French a taste of their own medicine."
But he quickly realized something odd. The bombers didn't appear to be heading directly for the airfield; instead, they were veering to the side.
Immelmann was puzzled—there was no airfield in that direction.
Soon, he discovered the answer: the bombers were heading for the Kieler Steel Mill, where they dropped wave after wave of bombs.
The Kieler Steel Mill was only about ten kilometers from the airfield, so the explosions were clearly audible, with flames and smoke rising in the distance.
Lowering his binoculars, Colonel Immelmann sighed. This was the advantage of bombers—they could freely choose their targets, making the German preparations here utterly pointless.
...
Charles had deployed a total of 112 bombers, split into two groups of 56 planes each, with each group targeting a different steel mill.
One steel mill, located close to the Western Front and only about a kilometer away, was spared. This mill, named Carmond, was expected to be easily reclaimed by the French forces.
The other two mills were not so fortunate.
The German-controlled steel mills had no anti-air defenses. Massive piles of coal, used as fuel, were stacked carelessly around the buildings. It was no surprise that the bombing ignited these coal piles, leading to uncontrollable fires.
Coal burns slowly and is difficult to extinguish, so the fires raged for days, eventually reducing the steel mills to smoldering heaps of scrap metal.
...
Back at the Schneider Armory.
After taking a phone call, Paulina froze in shock. A moment later, she turned to James at his desk, her voice trembling. "Sir, the French bombers have just destroyed two of our steel mills. They're nothing but ruins now."
James had been reviewing the expansion plans for the Chauchat machine gun when he suddenly stopped, his pen hovering mid-air.
In that instant, he understood why Charles was so confident he would sell those steel mills.
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